Malaysia well-placed to meet increasing demands in semiconductor market – Siemens

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is well-placed to fill the increasing demands in the semiconductor market, according to engineering consultant company Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

Its president and chief executive officer, Tindaro Danze said the country is also in a position to lead by example in building greater sustainability in the semiconductor space such as wafer fabrication and integrated circuit (IC) design.

“The Asia Pacific (APAC) semiconductor market is projected to enjoy double-digit growth in 2024, in short, demand is growing, and Malaysia is in a position to fill those orders.

“Complacency, however, could easily see the country lose out to other regional upstarts,” he said.

Last year, Malaysia secured 13 per cent of the global manufacturing testing market share and exported nearly RM580 billion in semiconductor products.

Meanwhile, Danze said as the world continues to embrace sustainability and circularity in business practices, chip manufacturers, regardless of where they are in the supply chain, should be doing the same.

“We are at the point now, for example, where the very machines used not just in packaging and testing, but even across foundries and IC plants, are being designed with mechatronic concept designer platforms, which are integrated with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered, physics-based ‘digital twin’.

“These machines can be operated and stress-tested within the virtual environment, allowing companies low-risk, cost-effective opportunities to predict performance, optimise operations and implement improvements, all without incurring the cost of building physical prototypes,” he said.

These complex and costly machines can now be designed and built far more efficiently, minimising waste and resource consumption, Danze added.

On the other hand, Malaysia should optimise the use of existing, non-renewable utilities such as water, which is a deeply important, yet underappreciated utility, he said.

Danze believes that Malaysia should upgrade the national water infrastructure over the next few years, not just for the public interest, but to serve key industries like high value-added manufacturing, the local semiconductor supply chain, data centre cooling requirements, medical technology, and more.

“It is now possible to integrate next-gen technologies such as AI and cutting-edge, low-power sensors throughout the physical water infrastructure, reducing pipe leaks by up to 50 per cent.

“These systems are so sensitive, they can identify leaks as small as 0.5 litres per second across thousands of kilometres of water pipelines,” he said.

Danze said as Malaysia becomes entrenched as a global semiconductor hub, the integration of next-gen AI-enabled technologies is creating new opportunities for advancement in an industry already rife with innovation. – BK